The present invention relates to a vehicle storage system and in particular to a storage system in a cargo compartment of a vehicle in which a cover is rotatably attached to the cargo compartment floor and extends from the floor to an adjacent wall to define an enclosed space together with the floor and the adjacent wall.
Automobile manufacturers are constantly striving to assess the needs of their customers and provide vehicles with features that meet those needs. One area of need is in convenient storage of cargo within a motor vehicle. Motor vehicles have long been equipped with a cargo carrying compartment, such as a trunk, to facilitate carrying of cargo within the vehicle. In the past, the trunk has been formed as a single, large enclosed space within which objects can be placed ranging from large suitcases to small items such as a can of oil, etc.
One difficulty in carrying smaller items is that they are typically free to move about the trunk during vehicle operation. One solution to the problem of loose items within the trunk has been the use of cargo netting within the trunk to hold small items within a smaller confined space within the larger trunk. Such cargo netting may extend across the trunk from one side to the other, near the end of the trunk so that items within the netting are confined between the netting and the rear wall of the trunk. While such netting performs satisfactorily, it can be difficult to place items such as grocery bags within the cargo netting. It may be necessary to use two hands to hold the netting back while placing the grocery bag within the trunk. This may necessitate first placing the bag in the trunk, often on top of the netting, and then pulling the netting from beneath the grocery bag over the top of the bag. This is often a cumbersome operation.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a storage system within a vehicle cargo compartment, such as the trunk, which can be simply operated with one hand to open and close the system to place items in the cargo compartment.